A record number of California buyers paid cash for homes last year, according to new figures from real estate tracking firm DataQuick.

Nearly a third of the homes and condos purchased last year in
California were bought with cash, according to DataQuick. That's
146-thousand properties - about 20-thousand more than in 2011, and
a new record. For some perspective, in 2007, as the housing
market was deflating, there were about 40-thousand homes bought
with cash.

DataQuick says investor interest in what many consider the "deal
of a lifetime," is driving cash sales. The firm also credits
the difficult mortgage environment and perceived higher returns on
investment.

Cash buyers paid a median price of 205-thousand dollars, and
buyers who financed with a mortgage paid a median price of
305-thousand dollars last year. DataQuick says investors and
vacation home buyers bought about 55 percent of all homes purchased
with cash last year.